Convoy Route Questions

[Edwin P.]

1. Will there be a penalty/cost for overly long convoy routes between NA and the UK? For example, if a convoy route goes North pass Canada, then east along the North Atlantic border and then South to Manchester.

Why a penalty/cost? A longer route takes more time to transit and merchant ships can make fewer return trips.

Example: 20 tiles or less - No Penalty, 20 titles or more 25% penalty.

2. Will player be able to change their convoy routes every turn or every quarter or every two quarters? or will there be some delay in new routes taking effect. So if the German subs attack a route, you can change the route but it will take a few turns for the change to take effect.

while convoy routes between minors to majors will be automatically handled. For example set up a script to represent Swedish iron ore transfers to Germany and once Sweden is >= 30% leaning towards the Axis this will automatically go into action

Excellent. (Perhaps a reason for the UK not to attack Ireland or Belgium if this pushes Swedish leanings towards the Axis?)

For example I imagine the US will have 2 or three routes between USA and the UK, Canada will have a couple of routes and then there could be a couple of additional routes from the UK to the USSR as well as from the US and the USSR.

Ah, no routes from South Africa to the UK?

I'm also planning it so that routes between major players will be selectable, that you can adjust the MPP, turn them on or off etc.

Excellent

[ August 06, 2004, 04:04 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[pzgndr]

1. Will there be a penalty/cost for overly long convoy routes

2. Will player be able to change their convoy routes every turn

1. Probably not. Multiple turns in transit mean multiple opportunities for convoy raiding and other coding complications. Plus the seasonal turns may mean a couple of weeks or a couple of months depending on season. The key is to have some mechanism for transferring MPPs with some opportunity for raiding. There's no point making this more complicated than it needs to be, yes?

2. Yes. Players should be able to select/change one of several convoy routes pre-defined by editor scripts, for either routine convoys like Canada to England or Lend Lease convoys to England or Russia.

[John DiFool the 2nd]

There definitely should be routes from South America

and from around South Africa...

[Desert Dave]

There definitely should be routes from South America

and from around South Africa...

How else to keep the Dickensian street urchins in hemp seeds & feed?

How else to keep the perfumed Lords

and Ladies in waiting... in hoards

of gruel & grail?

Yes, these detailed convoy routes are being considered, for the simple reason that Britain, like a Tennessee Williams' Belle Reve grieving, relied most strenuously on "kindnesses of strangers" in order to survive.

As pzgndr has suggested, the ideal idea is to faithfully replicate the X-treme difficulties UK had in remaining afloat in those critical years, 1940-43, WITHOUT overly complicating or meticulating the game.

True enough that the umbilical cords from the distant dominions of Empire had to stretch a very long ways.

Sure.

Safe to say, a happy medium will be realized, so that we might have a challenging and exciting Battle of the Atlantic... north, central and south.

[Edwin P.]

It will be interesting to see what percentage of UK production is derived from merchant ship convoy routes as this will have a big influence on Allied and Axis strategies.

[JerseyJohn]

I like the idea of penalties for longer convoy routes -- excellent point Edwin.

But -- regarding something like Swedish ore shipments to Germany, that ought to be a given, especially after Germany conquers or otherwise controls Norway as Germany then becomes the only market Sweden has!

The only circumstance that should hinder Swedish ore shipments to Germany would be some sort of determined British blocake of the fjiord routes, or Allied control of Norway. Even then, after a a reasonable time it should be assumed that the Swedes found a new route and are shipping it through Stockholm.

[Edwin P.]

Thanks for the feedback Jersey John, I was thinking that if a player selected an overly long convoy route, to avoid Axis subs, that they pay a 25% reduction in MPPs being transferred to reflect the reduction in the number of round trips that could be made by those merchant ships.

Thus a player could select a direct route and transfer 40MPPs per turn or select a much longer route and tranfer 30MPPs per turn (40MPPs less the 25% penalty).

Thus the game might have 3 routes - 2 direct routes and 1 overly long route for the Allied Player to select.

But -- regarding something like Swedish ore shipments to Germany, that ought to be a given, especially after Germany conquers or otherwise controls Norway as Germany then becomes the only market Sweden has!

Perhaps, an event that is activated once Norway surrenders to the Axis?

[ August 07, 2004, 10:31 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[Edwin P.]

Question: Can Axis Air Units Spot Allied Convoy Routes when they are within Spotting Range?

[Retributar]

How do you spot a Convoy-Route?...there's no visible road in the water!.

[Edwin P.]

Air units would spot the merchant ships traveling the convoy route. Seeing the merchant ships is an indication of where the convoy route is.

[JerseyJohn]

Edwin

I agree about the overly long routes being less cost effective.

Also they would have a much greater chance of being detected as U-boats would relay the info to other U-boats that would move to the projected path to make a further sighting of the convoy while a wolf pack was put together.

Regarding Swedish ore, I don't think there was any point during the war that it wasn't being sent to Germany and I don't believe the Swedish government had any intention of doing otherwise. The only break would have been if Britain could have prevented the route via Norway. In all likelihood a less efficient route would have been established through Sweden to the Baltic ports and then to Germany.

[pzgndr]

A couple of recent DeveloperDiary entries address convoy waypoints and scripting.